William Girdler’s SHEBA, BABY is
almost like a sister film to Jack Hill’s FOXY BROWN, which itself
was a sister film to the immensely entertaining COFFY. These three
films were intended as vehicles for the then-up-and-coming
Blaxploitation starlet Pam Grier, with the latter of the three being
the most genuine whereas the other two are essentially merely
products of its wake. Although they differ in quality, this is
ultimately what connects the first two: they attempted to push Grier
further into the spotlight. But does this money-minded decision pay
off or backfire horribly? Let’s jump into the autopsy and find out.

Grier stars as Sheba Shayne, a Chicago
PD who returns home from Kentucky to discover that a local gang has
been threatening her father and his business, clearly trying to force
him into early retirement. Sheba and a former lover embark on a wild
goose chase to find out who is behind her old man’s plight, which
leads them into the underbelly of crime as well as the evil lurking
on the surface. It really is as simple as that – yet another
revenge tale in which Grier is kicking ass and taking names and no
one can be trusted.

Unfortunately, after a few films, this
formula tends to get repetitive unless it’s spiced up a bit…and
in this case, it’s not. Though Girdler is able to produce a few
engaging sequences, his approach to the material on a whole is sorely
lacking; not just in final delivery but also in energy, imagination,
and motivation. The essentials of a good Blaxploitation film are
simply not in-tact, and I feel SHEBA suffers for it. It trudges
through its own accumulative muck for what feels like an eternity,
through one poorly edited action set-piece to the next. It’s just
stale, plain and simple.

One of many reasons for this might be
the very PG-13 ambience of the picture. I think that a
family-friendly Pam Grier outing could easily be arranged in better
form than this, but the lack of high-octane thrills just makes the
proceedings even less enjoyable. The film is in a constant need of an
energy boost, and though Grier tries her best to keep it afloat, even
her best efforts can’t inspire some life into the thing. Along with
her mostly game performance, the only other positive to be derived
from the experience is the groovy soundtrack.

Luckily, Arrow Films delivers as per
usual with their release. Things kick off with a trailer and
production stills gallery, and then we are presented with a couple of
featurettes which take a look at Pam Grier’s AIP years, a couple of
audio commentaries, and a booklet featuring an essay by Patty Breen.
Clearly they didn’t exactly go all out for this one, and it’s
easy to see why once one has seen the film itself, but I suspect
there are fans of SHEBA, BABY out there – somewhere – in spite of
its shortcomings and they will surely get a kick out of the disc. I
for one found it to be a lifeless bore, and can only really recommend
it to the Pam Grier/Blaxploitation completest. It’s a shame, but
that’s what happens when you don’t let Mr. Hill take care of
business.